


Unwind+Family+Nightmare

by katmariefrancis



Series: Sergeant+Rescue+New Friend [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Jack is fully embracing his role as Reena’s new dad, Mac is a big brother, Matty is basically Reena’s mom at this point, PTSD (nightmare), Team as Family, some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 13:10:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18572161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katmariefrancis/pseuds/katmariefrancis
Summary: The team is celebrating a successful mission (and Reena’s first!) with a buttload of pizza. Stories and general chill times ensue.And so does a nightmare.Or, Mac makes a great big brother.





	Unwind+Family+Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Part five! Very sorry that this took me a hot minute, but this is why I don’t set a posting schedule. I’d be awful at it.  
> Enjoy!

MY PLACE  
TIME TO UNWIND

“-and she goes, ‘ _It’s time to die, you absolutely worthless twatwaffle_ ’ and takes the shot perfectly and flips her comm back on in time to tell Jack that she got the guy.” Riley could barely finish, she was laughing so hard, and by the time she got it out, the rest of us had dissolved into laughter, even Matty. 

“Honestly, that’s tame language for former military.” Jack remarked. Reena shrugged. 

“I didn’t wanna scare Ri away!” she said, eyes innocent. Riley busted out laughing again. 

“You realize I’ve been hanging around Jack, a big burly former army guy who’s also a Texan?” Riley asked. “If anyone woulda scared me off by now, it would’ve been Jack.” Jack couldn’t hold his mock-offended face for long before he started laughing again. 

“Everyone, it’s time to feast!” Bozer proclaimed, walking onto the deck with six pizza boxes balanced in his hands. Reena stood to help him lay them out, along with paper toweling that usually doubled as our plates.

I sat back down before Reena, and I watched as she wobbled a little and sat down so hard the deck shook a little. 

“Ree, you okay?” I asked, shooting out a hand to steady her. She nodded. 

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I’ve just been up and about for too long. My leg’s starting to rub because I never took it off to give it a rest.” 

“Why don’t you pull it off now? We’re not going anywhere for awhile.” I said. I paused, then added as an afterthought, “Nobody’s going to judge, you know that, right? We’re family.” Reena thought for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. Thankfully, she’d pulled on a pair of shorts when we’d gotten back, so the top of the prosthetic, just above the bend of her knee, was easily accessible. She seemed hesitant and I realized something, mentally kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. “You need help?” I asked. Reena nodded sheepishly, setting her pizza down. I set mine down and wiped my hands on the sweats I was wearing. 

Together, Reena and I made quick work of pulling her leg off, and she sighed in relief when the fresh air hit the part of her leg that had been covered all day. She’d told me that the first time she’d worn the prosthetic that it had felt like someone suffocating her leg. 

“Better?” Jack asked. “I was wondering when you were gonna take that thing off. You’ve been rubbing at it since exfil picked us up.” Reena grinned, setting her leg behind her and picking her pizza back up. 

“Jesus, you really are my Pops.” Reena said, chuckling. “Actually, you notice more than my father did.” The way Reena said ‘father’ didn’t sound like someone who had a good relationship with their dad. “Right before I went back on duty, I was still having some problems, and he told me to suck it up. I had blisters for almost two weeks because he didn’t want to stop what we were doing so I could sit.” Jack’s eyes saddened, and he pulled her into his side in a tight hug. 

“You deserve way better than that, kiddo.” Jack murmured. 

“No kidding.” Matty said. “I plan on keeping my newest agent in tip-top shape, so if something’s wrong, you tell me. Clear?” It had the tone of an order, but Matty’s eyes told a different story.

“Crystal.” Reena answered. Matty smiled. 

“Good.” 

We sat around the fire pit for almost two more hours, Reena regaling us with stories about her time in the army. She had the most from her time as an EOD, with her best friend since high school as her Overwatch. 

“Wait, so you marched your little five foot one ass up to your commander and made a freaking _demand?_ ” Jack asked incredulously. Reena nodded. 

“I had absolutely no right, obviously. I was nineteen, coming up on a year and a half as an EOD tech, and completely out of regulation for hair _and_ uniform.” Reena said. “But I’d just been woken at one in the morning by my Overwatch, who shouldn’t have even _been_ with the EOD techs, and I needed answers!” Reena said. 

“Regardless, I can’t believe that didn’t get you toilet duty for months.” Jack said, a bewildered look on his face. “I’ve gotten worse for less.” 

“Yeah, but from what I understand, you were generally troublesome.” Reena said, shrugging. “This was the first questionable thing I’d ever done. ‘Course, it wasn’t the last, but Werner didn’t know that.” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she took a bite of her pizza. Jack shook his head. 

When Matty, Riley, and Jack left, it was about eleven o’clock, and Reena, Bozer, and I had just enough energy to dump the pizza boxes in the trash and collapse into bed. Reena hadn’t even bothered to put her leg back on, simply hopping first to foyer to grab her bag from where she’d left it and then into her room, not even shutting the door as Bozer and I shuffled into our own rooms. 

About three hours later, I was incredibly glad that Reena hadn’t shut her door. It meant I didn’t have to kick it down when her nightmare got more intense than usual.

“No! No, please, leave her alone!” Reena’s screams woke me, and at first I was going to just stay in bed and stay awake until it passed, but after a few moments it became clear this wasn’t her usual nightmare. “No, please, stop, I can’t- _no, please, please!_ ” Reena cut off with a gut-wrenching scream as I leapt out of bed and sprinted into her bedroom. 

“Reena!” I called, sitting next to her on her bed. Reena was no longer calling out coherent words, only strangled cries. My heart twisted with each cry. “Reena, come on, please, come on back.” I pleaded. Bozer appeared in the doorway, standing back to give Reena and I space. He’d learned the hard way that two people was too many the first night I’d been back and Jack had stayed over, neither of us willing to sleep apart just yet. 

“This is worse than usual.” Bozer murmured. I turned just long enough to nod, then turned back to Reena, who was still crying out. It had turned from grieving sobs to pained yells with strangled sobs mixed in, and I doubled my efforts to wake her up. 

“Reena,” I called, “you’re safe. It’s Mac, and Bozer’s here, too. You’re out of there, you’re safe.” I repeated _you’re safe_ over and over like a littany, shaking Reena gently. “Ree, please…” I begged. She was starting to come around, but she was having trouble. 

Finally, _finally_ , Reena woke up, one final strangled sob caught in her throat. She looked around wildly, and as soon as her gaze latched onto me, she launched herself into my arms with a cry. 

“I’ve got you.” I promised. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”


End file.
